Improvement in water-wheels



UNITED STATES NELSON BOWKEE, OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,02i, dated January 16, 1866.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, NELSON BOWKEE, of the city of New York, in the county and State ofNew York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Vater-/Vheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation oi' the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part otl this specication, in which- Figure l isa side elevation. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. Fig. 8 is alongitudinal section, and Fig. 4 isa transverse section.

I construct the fra-me of the wheel ot' timber, in a good substantial manner, as shown, and cover the peripheryA with boards, neatly, and as near air-tightas possible, leaving openings for the bucket-boards at regular intervals, as shown. I raise the sides C ol'the wheel above said periphery adistanceequal to the projection ot' the bucket-boards, and construct the breast D on a curve corresponding with that of the said sides C. I extend the Hume E out tothe boarded periphery ofthe wheel, and lit it nearly tight thereto, as at F, Fig. 3. The bucket boards B are hinged at the ends tothe timberframe t), the hinges being placed at one side, of the boards, as shown by the black points. The opening for the discharge ot' the water from the tlume at l", Fig. 3, is closed with an ordinary valve, upon the opening ot'v which the water is thrown into the spacel between the periphery ofthe wheel and the breast, and, be ing caught bythe bucket-boards, exerts the whole force ot' its weight upon the wheel and causes it to revolve. As the bucket-boards come up out otl the water at G, Fig. 3, the hinge allows them to hang vertically, and

when they reach the top ofthe wheel they are closed into the space allowed for them in the peripheryotthe wheel; butat'ter they pass the point F, Fig. 3, the water throws them open in their proper el'ective position, as at H, Fig. 3. But in order that the water may get a proper purchase, to insure their being thrown open immediately after they have passed the point F, Fig. 3, I have devised the leversJ l, Fig. 3, and applied one to each bucket-board. Said lever having its fulcruin at K, and the end I projecting beyond the periphery ot' the wheel, it is evident that when said projecting end strikes the edge F ot' the Hume the end J will be thrown out, and thereby throw out the bucket-board H.

In order to prevent the water from freezing in winter, I construct a warm-air chamber within the periphery ofthe wheel, and also another within the breast, by providing a boarded lining to each, as at L and M, Fig. 3, and introduce warm air into said chambers by pipes at- N and O, the aperture att), Fig. 4, extending through the axle ofthe wheel and through two ot' its spokes, P I). Fig. 3, to the periphery, as shown. ln some cases I propose to construct the inclosing portions of said warmair chambers ot' metal instead ot' wood.

I olaiml. The bucket-boards B, in combination with the levers J I.

2. Supplying the chambers in the wlleel and breast with heat, substantially as and for the purpose described.

NELSON B() WKER.

Witnesses:

I. E. WARE. `t). P. HA'rEIELD.

LL. S-i 

